Customer Service Savvy: The Key to Your Business Success

By Robert E. Levinson

This book is about all forms of interpersonal relationshipswhich we commonly call customer servicewhether your company is a doctors office, retail store, restaurant, law firm, nonprofit organization or any other business. Even if you generally rely on social media, texting or email for basic communication, eventually everything boils down to one human being talking to another human being. I intend this book to be a wake-up call for people. We need to stress the value of good customer service, because good customer service promotes strong relationships and complements sound business strategies. Learn to be successful in your business relationships and you will be successful in your business.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jul 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781490783468

Robert E. Levinson

After completing three years in the U.S. Navy, Robert Levinson earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Miami University, Ohio. Following graduation, he joined his father and brother in their family business, Steelcraft Manufacturing Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was the largest manufacturer of steel doors and frames in the country. Over the years, he became primary executive of 14 additional family businesses. In 1969, the company was sold to American Standard, Inc., where he became a Group Vice President in charge of 12 companies. During this time he developed, owned and operated three hotels in Broward and Palm Beach County’s, Florida. In 1974, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Miami University of Ohio. After 10 years with American Standard, Levinson joined Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida as Senior Development Officer.

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Copyright 2017 Robert E. Levinson.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-8347-5 (SC)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-8346-8 (E)

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Trafford rev. 07/19/2017

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CONTENTS

Better Customer Service: Challenge And Opportunity

Savvy Product Development

How Important Is Location?

What First-Class Customer Service Can Mean

The Importance Of Manners In A Tech-Savvy World

Remembering That Customers Are People

Customer Service In Today’s Economy

Use Today’s Customer Service To Get New Customers

A Service-Minded Team

Becoming More Customer-Conscious

How Sales Judgment Attracts And Holds Customers

Meeting The Competition

Worldwide Competition And How It Can Affect You

The Future Of Competition

What Can Be Done?

Ten Commandments For Beating The Competition

Six Steps To Success

INTRODUCTION

C ustomer service costs little or nothing and is easy to incorporate into your company style. It adds money in the till more easily and less expensively than advertising. It makes people feel good – both giver and receiver.

It is up to you to determine if your company meets the highest standards or needs of customer service or to decide whether immediate revisions are needed in this ever-changing, global market. Is another company providing better customer service than you or your company? If you don’t have the right priorities in place, there are plenty of companies all over the world waiting to capitalize on any mistakes your company makes.

Does this only apply to the entrepreneur? Of course not! The management team and every single employee that works in any business need to have the same philosophy of good customer service in order for a company to succeed. Every action that is taken—at any level—can help make or break your goals for success.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

T his book is about all forms of interpersonal relationships—which we commonly call customer service—whether your company is a doctor’s office, retail store, restaurant, law firm, nonprofit organization or any other business. Even if you generally rely on social media, texting or email for basic communication, eventually everything boils down to one human being talking to another human being.

I’ve noticed that over the years our society has lost the knack of respect, courtesy and understanding of other human beings in day-to-day business, which has an adverse effect not only on business but also your personal satisfaction.

Perhaps you are wondering: What makes me qualified to discuss this subject? I’ve had a diverse career in many fields of business, in addition to working with nonprofit organizations and academic organizations. In every endeavor, the ability to sparkle in my relationships with others helped my success.

Example: When I was in the manufacturing business making steel building products, I had a meeting with all of my distributors every year for sales and marketing purposes. One year, I hired management consultants who went to those customers to study their operations and determine how the use of my products would earn them the most money possible. When I held the next annual sales meeting, I didn’t conduct any of our normal sales business. Rather, I had my consultants show my distributors how they could improve their own business. No one believed that I would spend all that money and time to help my customers become more successful, but I never once promoted my own products in that meeting. This unconventional form of customer service worked well for all parties. Different? Of course. Successful? You bet.

You have customers regardless of the business or field you are in. Throughout my career in all its various fields, I was able to:

1) Personalize every relationship with my customers;

2) Make them feel important;

3) Dedicate myself to helping them make a profit;

4) Make them better known in the community;

5) Help them become more successful businesspeople; and

6) Work with them to achieve success.

Example: When working in the candle business, I sold candles all over the United States. Every year we mailed two bayberry candles as a holiday scent to potential customers and marketed them as a holiday gift item that they could send their customers as a gift. We were always very generous in giving away samples of our products, which in turn helped us to be successful.

My father, brother and I had a manufacturing business which we sold to American Standard, Inc. after my father died in 1969. American Standard was a large publicly traded company, and I became vice president of one of the nine divisions. When I walked into my first meeting with the big shots, I was shivering in my shoes, but I was full of questions. Apparently, the other VPs had no chutzpah, because they later turned to me to ask the questions they needed answered!

When my wife and I vacationed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, we played on a golf course next to a 50-room hotel. One day, there was a guy behind pushing us to hurry during our game. When we got back to the starter, I asked who he was—turns out he owned the golf course! I thought to myself, Maybe we can just buy him and the hotel out. We ought to buy this place. Then we went to the hotel, met the owner, had a couple martinis and started to negotiate the buyout of the hotel and golf course.

We didn’t get that one, but by then I was in the mood to go into the hotel business, so eventually I bought a different hotel. Shortly after that, I was at a party in Fort Lauderdale and met someone selling land, so I went ahead and bought land for another hotel. After ten years I left American Standard, but by then I had already decided to stay in the hotel business and ended up owning three hotels.

Throughout my career, I have written articles and books about business skills, customer savvy, finding success, never retiring and even finding love in your golden years. Recently I moved into an independent retirement community where I met a young man working in one of the departments whom I felt had the potential for great success. I gave him one of my previous business books, and ever since he read it he has constantly been telling me that his success in promotions has been in part due to the lessons he learned from my book.

I intend this book to be a wake-up call for people. We need to stress the value of good customer service.

The best part is that you don’t have to invest any money in it—providing good customer service costs you nothing and guarantees success.

Where else can you find a business tool that doesn’t cost anything, but can be an easy road to success?

The key ingredient for success: Good customer service is established by the person in charge. It starts at the top.

The leaders of any organization set the integrity, policy, atmosphere and personality of the organization, and whatever they choose and do will permeate the